Prackle said, "Make him stop!"
Tonder said, "I dreamed the Leader was crazy."
And Loft and Hunter laughed together and Loft said, "The enemy have found out how crazy. I'll have to write that one home. The papers would print that one. The enemy have learned how crazy the Leader is."
And Tonder went on laughing. "Conquest after conquest, deeper and deeper into molasses." His laughter choked him and he coughed into his handkerchief. "Maybe the Leader is crazy. Flies conquer the flypaper. Flies capture two hundred miles of new flypaper!" His laughter was growing more hysterical now.
Prackle leaned over and shook him with his good hand, "Stop it! You stop it! You have no right!"
And gradually Loft recognized that the laughter was hysterical and he stepped close to Tonder and slapped him in the face. He said, "Lieutenant, stop it!"
Tonder's laughter went on and Loft slapped him again in the face and he said, "Stop it, Lieutenant! Do you hear me?"
Suddenly Tonder's laughter stopped and the room was quiet except for the hissing of the lanterns. Tonder looked in amazement at his hand and he felt his bruised face with his hand and he looked at his hand again and his head sank down toward the table. "I want to go home," he said.
6
There was a little street not far from the town square where small peaked roofs and little shops were mixed up together. The snow was beaten down on the walks and in the street, but it piled high on the fences and it puffed on the roof peaks. It drifted against the shuttered windows of the little houses. And into the yards paths were shoveled. The night was dark and cold and no light showed from the windows to attract the bombers. And no one walked in the streets, for the curfew was strict. The houses were dark lumps against the snow. Every little while the patrol of six men walked down the street, peering about, and each man carried a long flashlight. The hushed tramp of their feet sounded in the street, the squeaks of their boots on the packed snow. They were muffled figures deep in thick coats; under their helmets were knitted caps which came down over their ears and covered their chins and mouths. A little snow fell, only a little, like rice.
The patrol talked as they walked, and they talked of things that they longed for--of meat and of hot soup and of the richness of butter, of the prettiness of girls and of their smiles and of their lips and their eyes. They talked of these things and sometimes they talked of their hatred of what they were doing and of their loneliness.
A small, peak-roofed house beside the iron shop was shaped like the others and wore its snow cap like the others. No light came from its shuttered windows and its storm doors were tightly closed. But inside a lamp burned in the small living-room and the door to the bedroom was open and the door to the kitchen was open. An iron stove was against the back wall with a little coal fire burning in it. It was a warm, poor, comfortable room, the floor covered with worn carpet, the walls papered in warm brown with an old-fashioned fleur-de-lis figure in gold. And on the back wall were two pictures, one of fish lying dead on a plate of ferns and the other of grouse lying dead on a fir bough. On the right wall there was a picture of Christ walking on the waves toward the despairing fishermen. Two straight chairs were in the room and a couch covered with a bright blanket. There was a little round table in the middle of the room, on which stood a kerosene lamp with a round flowered shade on it, and the light in the room was warm and soft.
The inner door, which led to the passage, which in turn led to the storm door, was beside the stove.
In a cushioned old rocking-chair beside the table Molly Morden sat alone. She was unraveling the wool from an old blue sweater and winding the yarn on a ball. She had quite a large ball of it. And on the table beside her was her knitting with the needles sticking in it, and a large pair of scissors. Her glasses lay on the table beside her, for she did not need them for knitting. She was pretty and young and neat. Her golden hair was done up on the top of her head and a blue bow was in her hair. Her hands worked quickly with the raveling. As she worked, she glanced now and then at the door to the passage. The wind whistled in the chimney softly, but it was a quiet night, muffled with snow.
Suddenly she stopped her work. Her hands were still. She looked toward the door and listened. The tramping feet of the patrol went by in the street and the sound of their voices could be heard faintly. The sound faded away. Molly ripped out new yarn and wound it on the ball. And again she stopped. There was a rustle at the door and then three short knocks. Molly put down her work and went to the door.
"Yes?" she called.
She unlocked the door and opened it and a heavily cloaked figure came in. It was Annie, the cook, red-eyed and wrapped in mufflers. She slipped in quickly, as though practiced at getting speedily through doors and getting them closed again behind her. She stood there red-nosed, sniffling and glancing quickly around the room.
Molly said, "Good evening, Annie. I didn't expect you tonight. Take your things off and get warm. It's cold out."
Annie said, "The soldiers brought winter early. My father always said a war brought bad weather, or bad weather brought a war. I don't remember which."
"Take off your things and come to the stove."
"I can't," said Annie importantly. "They're coming."
"Who are coming?" Molly said.
"His Excellency," said Annie, "and the doctor and the two Anders boys."
"Here?" Molly asked. "What for?"
Annie held out her hand and there was a little package in it. "Take it," she said. "I stole it from the colonel's plate. It's meat."
And Molly unwrapped the little cake of meat and put it in her mouth and she spoke around her chewing. "Did you get some?"
Annie said, "I cook it, don't I? I always get some."
"When are they coming?"
Annie sniffled. "The Anders boys are sailing for England. They've got to. They're hiding now."
"Are they?" Molly asked. "What for?"
"Well, it was their brother, Jack, was shot today for wrecking that little car. The soldiers are looking for the rest of the family. You know how they do."
"Yes," Molly said, "I know how they do. Sit down, Annie."
"No time," said Annie. "I've got to get back and tell His Excellency it's all right here."
Molly said, "Did anybody see you come?"
Annie smiled proudly. "No, I'm awful good at sneaking."
"How will the Mayor get out?"
Annie laughed. "Joseph is going to be in his bed in case they look in, right in his nightshirt, right next to Madame!" And she laughed again. She said, "Joseph better lie pretty quiet."
Molly said, "It's an awful night to be sailing."
"It's better than being shot."
"Yes, so it is. Why is the Mayor coming here?"
"I don't know. He wants to talk to the Anders boys. I've got to go now, but I came to tell you."
Molly said, "How soon are they coming?"
"Oh, maybe half, maybe three-quarters of an hour," Annie said. "I'll come in first. Nobody bothers with old cooks." She started for the door and she turned midway, and as though accusing Molly of saying the last words she said truculently, "I'm not so old!" And she slipped out of the door and closed it behind her.
Molly went on knitting for a moment and then she got up and went to the stove and lifted the lid. The glow of the fire lighted her face. She stirred the fire and added a few lumps of coal and closed the stove again. Before she could get to her chair, there was a knocking on the outer door. She crossed the room and said to herself, "I wonder what she forgot." She went into the passage and she said, "What do you want?"
A man's voice answered her. She opened the door and a man's voice said, "I don't mean any harm. I don't mean any harm."
Molly backed into the room and Lieutenant Tonder followed her in. Molly said, "Who are you? What do you want? You can't come in here. What do you want?"
Lieutenant Tonder was dressed in his great gray overcoat. He entered the room and took off his helmet and he spoke plead
ingly. "I don't mean any harm. Please let me come in."
Molly said, "What do you want?"
She shut the door behind him and he said, "Miss, I only want to talk, that's all. I want to hear you talk. That's all I want."
"Are you forcing yourself on me?" Molly asked.
"No, miss, just let me stay a little while and then I'll go."
"What is it you want?"
Tonder tried to explain. "Can you understand this--can you believe this? Just for a little while, can't we forget this war? Just for a little while. Just for a little while, can't we talk together like people--together?"
Molly looked at him for a long time and then a smile came to her lips. "You don't know who I am, do you?"
Tonder said, "I've seen you in the town I know you're lovely. I know I want to talk to you."
And Molly still smiled. She said softly, "You don't know who I am." She sat in her chair and Tonder stood like a child, looking very clumsy. Molly continued, speaking quietly, "Why, you're lonely. It's as simple as that, isn't it?"
Tonder licked his lips and he spoke eagerly. "That's it," he said. "You understand. I knew you would. I knew you'd have to." His words came tumbling out. "I'm lonely to the point of illness. I'm lonely in the quiet and the hatred." And he said pleadingly, "Can't we talk, just a little bit?"
Molly picked up her knitting. She looked quickly at the front door. "You can stay not more than fifteen minutes. Sit down a little, Lieutenant."
She looked at the door again. The house creaked. Tonder became tense and he said, "Is someone here?"
"No, the snow is heavy on the roof. I have no man any more to push it down."
Tonder said gently, "Who did it? Was it something we did?"
And Molly nodded, looking far off. "Yes."
He sat down. "I'm sorry." After a moment he said, "I wish I could do something. I'll have the snow pushed off the roof."
"No," said Molly, "no."
"Why not?"
"Because the people would think I had joined with you. They would expel me. I don't want to be expelled."
Tonder said, "Yes, I see how that would be. You all hate us. But I'll take care of you if you'll let me."
Now Molly knew she was in control, and her eyes narrowed a little cruelly and she said, "Why do you ask? You are the conqueror. Your men don't have to ask. They take what they want."
"That's not what I want," Tonder said. "That's not the way I want it."
And Molly laughed, still a little cruelly. "You want me to like you, don't you, Lieutenant?"
He said simply, "Yes," and he raised his head and he said, "You are so beautiful, so warm. Your hair is bright. Oh, I've seen no kindness in a woman's face for so long!"
"Do you see any in mine?" she asked.
He looked closely at her. "I want to."
She dropped her eyes at last. "You're making love to me, aren't you, Lieutenant?"
And he said clumsily, "I want you to like me. Surely I want you to like me. Surely I want to see that in your eyes. I have seen you in the streets. I have watched you pass by. I've given orders that you mustn't be molested. Have you been molested?"
And Molly said quietly, "Thank you; no, I've not been molested."
His words rushed on. "Why, I've even written a poem for you. Would you like to see my poem?"
And she said sardonically, "Is it a long poem? You have to go very soon."
He said, "No, it's a little tiny poem. It's a little bit of a poem." He reached inside his tunic and brought out a folded paper and handed it to her. She leaned close to the lamp and put on her glasses and she read quietly.
Your eyes in their deep heavens
Possess me and will not depart;
A sea of blue thoughts rushing
And pouring over my heart.
She folded the paper and put it in her lap. "Did you write this, Lieutenant?"
"Yes."
She said a little tauntingly, "To me?"
And Tonder answered uneasily, "Yes."
She looked at him steadily, smiling. "You didn't write it, Lieutenant, did you?"
He smiled back like a child caught in a lie. "No."
Molly asked him, "Do you know who did?"
Tonder said, "Yes, Heine wrote it. It's 'Mit deinen blauen Augen.' I've always loved it." He laughed embarrassedly and Molly laughed with him, and suddenly they were laughing together. He stopped laughing just as suddenly and a bleakness came into his eyes. "I haven't laughed like that since forever." He said, "They told us the people would like us, would admire us. They do not. They only hate us." And then he changed the subject as though he worked against time. "You are so beautiful. You are as beautiful as the laughter."
Molly said, "You're beginning to make love to me, Lieutenant. You must go in a moment."
And Tonder said, "Maybe I want to make love to you. A man needs love. A man dies without love. His insides shrivel and his chest feels like a dry chip. I'm lonely."
Molly got up from her chair. She looked nervously at the door and she walked to the stove and, coming back, her face grew hard and her eyes grew punishing and she said, "Do you want to go to bed with me, Lieutenant?"
"I didn't say that! Why do you talk that way?"
Molly said cruelly, "Maybe I'm trying to disgust you. I was married once. My husband is dead. You see, I'm not a virgin." Her voice was bitter.
Tonder said, "I only want you to like me."
And Molly said, "I know. You are a civilized man. You know that love-making is more full and whole and delightful if there is liking, too."
Tonder said, "Don't talk that way! Please don't talk that way!"
Molly glanced quickly at the door. She said, "We are a conquered people, Lieutenant. You have taken the food away. I'm hungry. I'll like you better if you feed me."
Tonder said, "What are you saying?"
"Do I disgust you, Lieutenant? Maybe I'm trying to. My price is two sausages."
Tonder said, "You can't talk this way!"
"What about your own girls, Lieutenant, after the last war? A man could choose among your girls for an egg or a slice of bread. Do you want me for nothing, Lieutenant? Is the price too high?"
He said, "You fooled me for a moment. But you hate me, too, don't you? I thought maybe you wouldn't."
"No, I don't hate you," she said, "I'm hungry and--I hate you!"
Tonder said, "I'll give you anything you need, but--"
And she interrupted him. "You want to call it something else? You don't want a whore. Is that what you mean?"
Tonder said, "I don't know what I mean. You make it sound full of hatred."
Molly laughed. She said, "It's not nice to be hungry. Two sausages, two fine, fat sausages can be the most precious things in the world."
"Don't say those things," he said. "Please don't!"
"Why not? They're true."
"They aren't true! This can't be true!"
She looked at him for a moment and then she sat down and her eyes fell to her lap and she said, "No, it's not true. I don't hate you. I'm lonely, too. And the snow is heavy on the roof."
Tonder got up and moved near to her. He took one of her hands in both of his and he said softly, "Please don't hate me. I'm only a lieutenant. I didn't ask to come here. You didn't ask to be my enemy. I'm only a man, not a conquering man."
Molly's fingers encircled his hand for a moment and she said softly, "I know; yes, I know."
And Tonder said, "We have some little right to life in all this death."
She put her hand to his cheek for a moment and she said, "Yes."
"I'll take care of you," he said. "We have some right to life in all the killing." His hand rested on her shoulder. Suddenly she grew rigid and her eyes were wide and staring as though she saw a vision. His hand released her and he asked, "What's the matter? What is it?" Her eyes stared straight ahead and he repeated, "What is it?"
Molly spoke in a haunted voice. "I dressed him like a little boy for his first day in school. And
he was afraid. I buttoned his shirt and tried to comfort him, but he was beyond comfort. And he was afraid."
Tonder said, "What are you saying?"
And Molly seemed to see what she described. "I don't know why they let him come home. He was confused. He didn't know what was happening. He didn't even kiss me when he went away. He was afraid, and very brave, like a little boy on his first day of school."
Tonder stood up. "That was your husband."
Molly said, "Yes, my husband. I went to the Mayor, but he was helpless. And then he marched away--not very well nor steadily--and you took him out and you shot him. It was more strange than terrible then. I didn't quite believe it then."
Tonder said, "Your husband!"
"Yes; and now in the quiet house, I believe it. Now with the heavy snow on the roof, I believe it. And in the loneliness before daybreak, in the half-warmed bed, I know it then."
Tonder stood in front of her. His face was full of misery. "Good night," he said. "God keep you. May I come back?"
And Molly looked at the wall and at the memory. "I don't know," she said.
"I'll come back."
"I don't know."
He looked at her and then he quietly went out of the door, and Molly still stared at the wall. "God keep me!" She stayed for a moment staring at the wall. The door opened silently and Annie came in. Molly did not even see her.
Annie said disapprovingly, "The door was open."
Molly looked slowly toward her, her eyes still wide open. "Yes. Oh, yes, Annie."
"The door was open. There was a man came out. I saw him. He looked like a soldier."
And Molly said, "Yes, Annie."
"Was it a soldier here?"
"Yes, it was a soldier."
And Annie asked suspiciously, "What was he doing here?"
"He came to make love to me."
Annie said, "Miss, what are you doing? You haven't joined them, have you? You aren't with them, like that Corell?"
"No, I'm not with them, Annie."
Annie said, "If the Mayor's here and they come back, it'll be your fault if anything happens; it'll be your fault!"
"He won't come back. I won't let him come back."
But the suspicion stayed with Annie. She said, "Shall I tell them to come in now? Do you say it's safe?"
"Yes, it's safe. Where are they?"
The Short Novels of John Steinbeck Page 40